Always the innovator in storage technology, Samsung now vows to make SSDs much cheaper than current industry prices, announcing that it has started to mass produce a more affordable variant of of its 4 TB SSDs.
As any data junkie knows, SSDs are much more expensive than HDDs — a decent SSD can go for nearly $1,000, while an HDD can go for just a couple of hundred bucks for the same amount of storage.
SSDs are becoming less expensive with time, largely because many people opt for them when they learn the many benefits over HDDs — SSDs are more reliable since they don't have moving parts, and they're much faster for the same reason. That being said, prices aren't slimming down fast enough.
Samsung Is now Producing Cheaper Variants Of Its 4 TB QLC SSDs
Years ago, Samsung launched its first 4 TB SSDs, priced at $1,499. Now, the company says it has begun production of a cheaper variant of the same 4 TB QLC SSDs. The disadvantage of QLC NAND storage is that it sacrifices speed for increased density. However, Samsung says this cheaper variant promises the same 540 Mbps/520 Mbps read/write speeds, which are the same rates its existing SATA SSDs offer.
"Samsung's new 4-bit SATA SSD will herald a massive move to terabyte-SSDs for consumers," according to Jaesoo Han, executive VP of memory sales and marketing at Samsung Electronics.
SSDs For The Consumers
Samsung describes these new drives as consumer class, and there will also 1 TB and 2 TB variants available for those who don't need to go overboard with storage. These drives obviously won't offer the level of performance usually found on higher-end SSDs, but as The Verge notes, any complaints about speed will probably be overwhelmed by the sheer benefit of having terabytes of space.
Also, users wouldn't have to worry about reliability, as Samsung guarantees a three-year warranty period for the SSDs. The company plans to launch the first drives built around these new storage chips later this year.
Samsung also mentions that it plans on using the same technology to develop 128 GB memory cards for smartphones that will supposedly "lead the charge toward higher capacities for high-performance memory storage."
The company has yet to announce official pricing. Right now, 4 TB HDDs run around $100 on Amazon, while's Samsung's 860 EVO 4 TB SSD costs 10 times more. If Samsung wants to target the consumers class as it claims, the new SSDs have to be much cheaper, but the company doesn't seem worried.
"As we expand our lineup across consumer segments and to the enterprise, 4-bit terabyte-SSD products will rapidly spread throughout the entire market," said Han.
